Electric railway.



No. 764,388. PATENTED JULY 5, 1904. H. N. SPORBORG.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.9. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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% Henry NSporborcgi UNITED STATES Patented July 5, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE.

HENRY N. SPORBORG, OF RUGBY, ENG-LAND, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFIGATIONfor-ming part of Letters Patent No. 764,388, dated July 5, 1904. Application filed December 9,1902. Serial No. 13 1,5 11. (N model.)

To all elf/1,0111 it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY N. Sronnone, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rugby,

in the county of Warwick, England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in electric railways, and more particularly to electric railways of the type employing thirdrail conductors arranged parallel to the track or service rails and with which collectonshoes carried by the car are adapted to contact.

The object of my invention is to obviate the necessity of using feeders in double-track third-rail electric railways by connecting the third rails together for the purpose of using their total carrying capacity in delivering current to the cars, so constructing and arranging the system that the third-rail conductors may be used separately and independently when desirable.

My invention consists of an electric railway having a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the track-rails and provided with means, such as switches, for connecting the conductors together and means, preferably in the form of tripping-coils, adapted to be operated from a distant station for rendering the switches or other connecting means inoperative.

The accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic representation of a double-track thirdrail electric railway equipped with my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, A and A represent either generating stations or substations along the line of the railway.

B and B represent the bus-bars in the respective stations A and A. The sections of the third-rail conductors receii re current from these bus-bars B and B, respectively, through the circuit-breakers C to C", inclusive, sec tions (1. and receiving current through the circuit-breakers C and C, respectively, the sections a and 7) receiving current through the circuit-breakers C and C" in station A, also through C and C respectively, in station A, and sections a and If receiving curd etents t.

rent through the circuit-breakers C and C, respectively, in station A. The third-rail conductor composed of the sections a. a a, &c., is arranged parallel to the service or track rails R, while the third-rail conductor composed of sections 7) 7) Zi &e., is arranged parallel to the service or track rails R.

The sections a 7) ol? the third-rail conductors are represented as being adapted to be connected together at intervals by means of the switches S, which may be closed or set by means of the handles 72/ and held in their closed position by means of the catches or The said catches zfi'orrn the armatures for the tripping coils or magnets t,connected in shunt-circuits from either of the bus-bars B and B, located in the stations A and A, respectively, by means of the controlling-switches s and s Connected in series or otherwise opcratively connected with each of the tripping-coils is asignalinglamp or other device, which serves to indicate the position of the switch S. It will be nnderstood that the sections a and 7) are connected together by switches which are adapted to be opened by the operation of the controlling-switch s in the station A and that the sections a and I) are connected together by switches, the tripping-coils oi which are connected to the bus-bar B of the station A through the controlling-switch s.

When the two third-rail conductors are connected together, their combined current-c. ,rrying capacity obviates the necessity of using feeders. In case of an emergency, such as when an accident has occurred along the road, which opens the circuit breakers at the station, and the station attendant desires to know which one of the tracks is free from a short circuit or ground, or in case at any time it is thought desirable to operate the third-rail conductors se 'iarately and inde pendently, the controlling-switch s or s, as the case may be, is closed, so as to connect the tripping-coils of the switches S to the busbar at the station. WVhen the station attendant operates the switches S after an accident has occurred, the simplest method for him to employ to determine which of the sections of third rail is clear of a short circuit is to reset the station circuit-breakers. The immediate reopeningof any one of the said circuit-breakers will indicate that the section controlled thereby has a short circuit or ground on it. By closing the controlling-switch the shuntcircuit is completed from the bus-bar B or B through the said tripping-coils t and the indicating devices or lamps (Z to ground at G. The connecting-switches of the section controlled from a substation are thereby opened simultaneously and the third rails rendered capable of use separately and independently. The lamps (Z are used to indicate to the linemen and track-walkers that the third rails of that section are disconnected or cut apart and that it will be impossible for them to connect the said rails together so long as the station Y attendant keeps the controlling-switch closed. The switches S are to be closed by hand, and it will be understood by linemen and trackwalkers that the switches if found open are to be closed after the lamps have become dark. The switches S may be located as frequently as found necessary along the way.

Although I have shown and described specific means for connecting the third rails of a section together and also specific means for rendering said connecting means inoperative, I do not intend to limit my invention to such specific devices, merely illustrating them as preferred forms.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In an electric railway havingaplurality of conductors paralleling the service or track rails, means for connecting the conductors together at intervals along the way, and means for opening said connections simultaneously.

2. In an electric railway having a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the trackrails, means for connecting the conductors together, and means operated from a distant station for rendering said connecting means inoperative.

3. In an electric railway, a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the track-rails, a switch for connecting said conductors together, and means operated from a distant station for opening said switch.

4. In an electric railway, a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the track-rails, a switch for connecting said conductors together, means operated from a distant station for opening said switch, and a signal operatively connected with said means.

5. In an electric railway, a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the track-rails, a switch for connecting said conductors together, means operated from a distant station for causing said switch to open, and means for closing said switch.

6. In an electric railway, a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the rails, switches for connecting said conductors together at intervals along the way, and means operated from a distant station for causing said switches to open simultaneously.

7 In a double track electric railway, a third-rail conductor for each track, means for connecting said third-rail conductors together, and means operated from any desired point along the railway for rendering said connecting means inoperative.

8. In a double -track electric railway, a third-rail conductor for each track, means for connecting said third-rail conductors together, means operated from any desired point along the railway for rendering said connecting means inoperative, and indicating means operatively connected with said last-mentioned means.

9. In a double -track electric railway, a third-rail conductor for each track, a plurality of switches for connecting said third-rail conductors together at intervals along the way, tripping devices for said switches operated simultaneously from any desired point along the railway,and a signal device for each switch operatively connected with the tripping device of said switch.

10. In an electric railway, a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the trackrails, a switch for connecting said conductors together, and electromagnetically actuated means operated from any desired point along the railway for tripping said switch.

11. In an electric railway, a plurality of conductors arranged parallel to the trackrails, a switch for connecting said conductors together, electromagnetically-actuated means operated from any desired point along the railway for tripping said switch, and a signaling device in circuit with the actuating-coil of said tripping means.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of October, 1902.

HENRY N. SPORBORG.

WVitnesses:

ERNEST HARKER, W. EDGAR J ONES. 

